At the Altar
by Lady-of-Imagination
Summary: A short romantic story Forever Friend and Hopeful Lover is FINISHED.
1. Friend and Hopeful Lover

**Forever Friend and Hopeful Lover**

Elaine sighed, watching her dearest Daniel get into his car to make his way to college. She had kept her love for him a secret for six long years in hope that he would show some affection for her. He had been one of her best friends throughout high school, always a gentleman too. But more than a hint of affection here and there, he had never so much as asked her to the prom his Sr. year.

Well, she thought to herself, the only thing left to do is take matters into my own hands. I'll simply have to write him a letter. After all, I have his e-mail address and instant message and phone number and college address. A real handwritten letter does seem all the better though. It's more personal and romantic.

As soon as Elaine got home she took a piece of stationary, not too pretty or too plain.

Dear Daniel,

I realize that I am two years younger than you. We have been good friends these past few years, and I am grateful for that.

Although I am sure that you must have sensed that I liked you at least to some degree these past few years, I have to tell you now. These past few years have not just been a small crush, but a growing affection. I have watched you, and listened to you and talked with you. I have listened to opinions of you, and forced myself to find things about you that I disagree with, which I have. But through all that, and heartbreaks and comparing and falling in love with you over again, I realize that you are the man of my dreams. No, you do not have every thing I would wish for if I could choose all of the attributes of my husband, but all of the things I love about you are just right.

I only hope that you might love me in return, or at least give me a chance. If you would rather just leave our relationship as it is, and continue as good friends, which I hope to always be and cherish above all else, then please tell me so in a straightforward manner. I hope you take this letter as it was sincerely meant.

Your forever friend and hopeful lover,

Elaine

Elaine let out the breath she had been holding and set her pen down. She wouldn't even think about how he would receive the letter, just hope and pray.

Two weeks passed and she still hadn't gotten a reply yet. She began to regret having ever sent the letter.

Finally a month later she found an envelope with her name and address marked in his handwriting.


	2. Friend and Hopeful 2

Dear Elaine,

So what are the bad things and what are the good things about me? And why did you wait this long?

Tell everyone I said hi.

Forever Friends,

Daniel McKnight

Elaine looked at the letter in disbelief. He had hardly acknowledged the fact that she had just poured her heart out to him! Did this mean that he didn't like her? He hadn't said go away, but he had signed the letter "Forever Friends". Maybe she should just answer the letter, and make it sound like they would just continue as friends. Maybe that way she'd find out more.

Dear Daniel,

So how are things at college? What sport are you playing?

The things I found when I took off my rose-colored glasses (which I didn't want to do), were that you sometimes could be a showoff. I didn't like it when you acted arrogant. There were other small things that weren't even worth mentioning, except for the fact that I made my liking you obvious, and you practically ignored it.

Why did I keep it in the shadows, and not come right out and say it? Mutual friends told me that you didn't like a girl who took the initiative. So I waited for you.

What are the good things about you? Your smile, your laugh, the curve of your neck and your eyes. The way you usually treat people is caring and considerate. You serve, you put others before yourself. Your sense of humor, the little inside jokes we always came up with, how I feel comfortable around you. I like how my heart beats a little faster around you.

The thing about loving someone is that when they say nice things about you, you take them to heart more, and keep them there. And whenever they put you down, it hurts – stings more than if anyone else had done it.

Everyone here misses you. I wish that life had never moved from last year; all of our friends being in the same group. But life does move on, and I'm sure that the future holds great things for both of us, no matter what path we take.

I won't give up the idea of a closer relationship until you tell me to. Until then:

Your Forever Friend and Hopeful Lover,

Elaine


	3. Friend and Hopeful 3

It was so hard to forget letters, to not worry about how he would respond. But she prayed every day that their relationship would be what God wanted it to be. This time the letter came more quickly.

Dear Elaine,

College is good. I'm playing rugby. The other guys here are cool, especially my roommate, Charlie.

I admit that I did realize that you liked me at least a little during high school. But we both told each other that we did not want to enter a relationship to college. I didn't want to hurt you. And you were always talking about other guys around me. Yes, if you had told me that you liked me straight out to my face then I would've been turned off. I liked having you as a friend, and I was afraid of loosing that.

So, I see that you don't want to propose the next step in our relationship. Just so you know there are a lot of pretty girls here.

I'm going to think about it and pray about it for a month, and send you another letter with my answer. I hope that you are praying about it too. It'll take a while to get used to not being like your big brother.

Tell me news of everything going on in your life.

Forever Your Friend,

Daniel

Elaine wanted to cry and laugh at the same time when she read the letter. He would give her a chance! He hadn't said whether he liked her or not. She would wait for him. She had waited for six years already, and prayer was a good thing. God would tell them what to do.

Dear Daniel,

You are a part of my prayers every day. I will trust that God will care for our relationship and whatever road it takes.

My Jr. year is going well. I dislike algebra 2 and chemistry, but I always have hated math and science. I am taking a writing class online and German 1 at college. I'm taking German 2 at home.

My job is going very well, and I'm slowly making some headway toward college. I should've been like you and begun to save a long time ago.

When is your break? Christmas? I can't wait for Christmas to come. I love our family traditions of getting the tree the second Saturday of December, baking cookies and playing a certain cd while we decorate it and seeing the snow outside. It wouldn't feel like Christmas without traditions. Did I ever tell you that we read the Christmas story in the barn? My dad likes to joke that we 'read the story to the pigs and chickens'.

I hope you are having a good time in school.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Your Forever Friend and Hopeful Lover,

Elaine Bennet

P.S. I like being like a little sister to you also.

The next letter she received was not from Daniel, but from the same address.

Dear Elaine,

I am Daniel's roommate, Charlie. I know that he hasn't told you a lot about how he feels about you and that whole deal about praying for a month. I also know what girls are like because I am brother to five of them. They like to know how we're feeling. I think Daniel is being slightly unfair to you, and never tell him this because he'd kill me (he is a very tough wrestler).

What I wrote to tell you is that Daniel cares a _whole_ lot more about you than he's been letting on. You probably know about that one relationship he had when he was 16 where he and the girl were 'hopelessly in love' only to break up. Well he's afraid of that happening again, so he's guarding his heart and thinks that he's guarding yours too.

Here is the honest truth: Daniel has about 5 pictures of you that he says he took from you and his sister tacked above his desk. Two of them are of you at the prom. One of them is of you and him together supposedly taken at a wedding. He talks about you constantly. He has a journal with you name on it that he writes in every night, and who knows what he put in it. When we pray together, you are the first thing he prays about and the longest. The guy is hopelessly in love with you, so don't give up on him, and don't act like you know any of this.

Hope that this helps you.

Daniel's Roommate,

Charlie


	4. Friend and Hopeful 4

**Thank you Rachel and Sammi for your reviews. You guys are awesome. And Molly – I'm glad you liked it and it's awesome to find a sister in Christ out there. **

Elaine's heart soared as she read Charlie's letter. Could this really be true? She held the letter to her chest and sighed and cried out of happiness. She put the letter inside her prayer journal and read it before she fell asleep each night. This certainly made waiting for his response easier, though she guessed he could still refuse her.

A month later the long hoped for letter came, her hands trembled as she opened the envelope in the secret of her bedroom.

Dear Elaine,

God has given me a peace about you and I would like to ask you to go out with me once you graduate high school (which I know is when you would allow yourself to date). Until then I will wait for you here.

There's a winter formal at my college in December. Would you like to come up to it? I'll come to the prom with you back in Pennsylvania as well. I'll be out of school by then.

Looking forward to our future relationship.

Forever Friend and Soon to be Lover,

Daniel

That winter they went to his formal dance together. She felt beautiful next to him and stayed with a relative near his college that night. In the spring he came home and went to her prom. They did the same thing the following year.

When she turned 18 in the spring they went on their first date. Whenever it was practical to get together in during college they went out and went to each other's formal dances. At Elaine's formal dance the next spring he gave her 'an early birthday present' that just happened to fit on her finger perfectly.

They married the spring that she graduated. Now they live in a splendid little house where Elaine sends out books to get published and teaches English (or will until their baby is born next fall) and Daniel works as a lawyer. Whenever he goes away they sign their letters; 'Forever Friends and Forever Lovers'.


End file.
